Gaston County school closed after dozens of students out sick with flu

CRAMERTON, N.C. — A Gaston County school is closed and workers are scrubbing down everything after dozens of students got the flu.

Cramerton Christian Academy was closed Tuesday and is closed again Wednesday after school officials said 70 of their 400 students were sick.

They said last week, they had 35 to 40 out sick every day. They thought the numbers would diminish over the weekend, but instead by Monday, 75 students were out with strep or the flu.

To put that in perspective, that is nearly 1 of every 5 students.

The school sent many of the students home, but Administrator Donna Bowman said she is worried it could get worse. She said she decided to send all of the students home, from high school seniors to newborns in day care.

She said it didn’t help to continue since so many seats were empty and some teachers were out sick, too.

“I have been in education for 30 years. This is the first time that we have ever had this level of absenteeism,” Bowman said. “You can’t cover new material if 30 percent of that particular class is absent.”

School leaders said teachers and staff have spent the last couple of days cleaning the school.

“Clean all the surfaces, locker doors, classroom doors, pencil sharpeners, all of those things,” administrator Donna Bowman said.

They plan to reopen Thursday. The school has asked parents to disinfect backpacks and lunch boxes.

__________

Symptoms of the flu:

• Fever, which may be as high as 103°F to 105°F
• Body aches, which may be severe
• Headache
• Sore throat
• Cough that gets worse
• Tiredness
• Runny or stuffy nose

__________

Channel 9′s Gaston County bureau reporter Ken Lemon checked with the county health department and they said several public schools have reported classes with two or more students sick with the flu, but nothing like Cramerton Christian Academy.

The co-owner of Medical Center Pharmacy Don Thrower said in the past week, they have seen an increase in antibiotics prescribed as well.

“This is the time that the flu bug hits, early February, the middle of February. Sometimes March is even worse than December or January,” Thrower said.

In total, the flu has killed 51 people in South Carolina and 54 in North Carolina.

The Wall Street Journal reports more than half of the positive flu tests have been in children and adults under the age of 25, which is a higher proportion than the past few years.

Health officials said if you haven’t gotten the flu shot, it’s not too late -- it may be the best defense.

Local district uses special tool to sanitize schools this flu season Local district uses special tool to sanitize schools this flu season

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